Back from the dead: Tiny bird feared EXTINCT makes miraculous return

A FEARED extinct bird has returned miraculously from the eye of a hurricane. Two researchers from a British university have rediscovered the tiny Bahama Nuthatch which was feared to have been blown into oblivion by the destructive grade five tropical tempest.

Hurricane Matthew caused so much devastation to the pine forests of Grand Bahama that the last numbers of the diminutive woodland bird were feared to have been wiped out.

Catastrophic 150mph winds killed at least a thousand people as they roared across the Caribbean, leaving a trail of devastation on Haiti before hitting Florida in the autumn of 2016.

Rains, floods and storm surges compounded the misery for millions across the region, while on the Bahamas the tiny nuthatch – a close relative of the Eurasian species found in British woods and gardens – was feared to have been obliterated.

Already rare and restricted to small tracts of native pine forest on Grand Bahama Island, the critically endangered species was already crashing from a population count of 1,800 in 2004 to only a handful of birds by when Matthew struck.

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In the wake of the October hurricane two years ago, University of East Anglia masters students Matthew Gardner and David Pereira set out on a three-month expedition to find this and other endemic Caribbean pine forest bird species this spring.

Scouring 34,000 hectares of pine forest finally paid off when the nuthatch’s call began to ripple through the pine barrens.

Mr Gardner explained how the researchers had traipsed through more than 250 miles of forest on foot when they had their eureka moment.

“Sadly, we think that the chances of bringing this bird back from the brink of extinction are very slim due to the very low numbers left, and because we are not sure of the precise drivers for its decline.

“But it is still absolutely crucial that conservation efforts in the native Caribbean pine forest do not lapse as it is such an important habitat for other endemic birds, including the Bahama Swallow, Bahama Warbler and Bahama Yellowthroat.

"The habitat is also incredibly important for North American migrants including the Kirtland's Warbler.”